Being in two minds: The divided mind in the Nyāyasūtras

In this paper I suggest that the division between manas and atman in Nyaya philosophy can be interpreted in the light of Western discussions about irrationality. In Western philosophy irrationality has been explained by postulating a divided mind. This helps to account for a generally rational mind that is nevertheless sometimes prone to irrationality. I argue that the division of the mind bears similarities to the division between manas and ātman. Looking at the arguments of the Naiyāyikas Gautama and Vātsyāyana for the existence of a permanent self, I do not find any of them convincing in the light of Buddhist criticism. However, by arguing for the division between manas and ātman, the Naiyāyikas have inadvertently provided their strongest argument for the existence of a self because they have managed to account for irrationality.     

Human Enhancement and the Anthropology of the “Entire Human Being”

About one and a half decades ago, two prominent reports were published in the United States (US) which strongly influenced subsequent international discussions on the topic of human enhancement: a 2002 report on “converging technologies for improving human performance”, based on a workshop which was organised by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Department of Commerce in December 2001, and the first report of US President George W. Bush’s Council on Bioethics (PCBE), published in October 2003 with the title Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness. The 2002 report included a wide variety of contributions from academics in various fields of research, from representatives of US institutions, and from companies. Due primarily to the influence of the two NSF staff editing the report, it can be regarded as the first major instance of the influence of transhumanism, a techno-futurist ideology and movement, on the US technology and innovation discourse. The PCBE report, on the other hand, is a prime example of a conservative critique of the transhumanist notion of human enhancement. In this invited contribution, these two crucial publications are analysed mainly in order to point out the relevance of philosophical anthropology as developed since the 1920s by Helmuth Plessner and others. This remarkable school of thought is experiencing a revival in countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, and, to some extent, in the English-speaking world. In this article, it is argued that philosophical anthropology provides us with an important alternative to both anthropological essentialism and scientism, two approaches that are still highly relevant in current discourse on human enhancement.     

Synchronicity and “Being Endowed with Meaning”

Jung developed over 50?years a paradigmatic idea of an acausal principle, which he called synchronicity. His hypothesis on synchronicity states that, complementary to causality, there exists a further explanatory principle whose effects appear as acausal but meaningful events. Therewith Jung added to the triadic principles of space, time and causality a fourth principle: synchronicity. The experience of individual synchronicities points to a general acausal and meaningful orderedness in nature which apparently exists outside man. Jung published Answer to Job and Synchronicity at the same time, for he attempted to open up a new path to the “state of spiritualization” Beseeltheit of Matter by making the assumption that “being is endowed with meaning.” According to Jung there exists a latent meaning in the cosmos, which existed long before human consciousness developed. He believed that “on the organic level it might be possible to regard biological morphogenesis in the light of the synchronistic factor.” One of many examples in the biological evolution is a Cretaceous-Palaeogene worldwide catastrophe approx. 65 million years ago that resulted in the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. It is understood as the result of a meteorite impact. This catastrophe was a most meaningful chance from the point of view of the mammals, including modern man. We modern humans finally came into existence thanks to a series of cosmic happenings, which were based on causality and synchronicity. What is true for our personal individuation is also true for biological or historical developments: an acausal but meaningful principle is secretly at work.     

“The Sleeping Army”: Necropolitics and the Collateral Consequences of Being a Sex Offender

The current study examines responses from 188 registered sex offenders to assess the impact of collateral consequences and situate such experiences within a framework of necropolitics. Two research questions are addressed: How can the experience of collateral consequences be explained through necropolitics; and, do sex offenders use necropolitics in resistive efforts? Results demonstrate that exclusion from social and political institutions results in a “death in life” for sex offenders. Last, this article discusses an alternative lens for conceptualizing policy initiatives towards sex offenders by juxtaposing Luckmann’s “life-worlds” with Mbembe’s “death worlds.”     

Being “Psychologically Held”: Separation and Reparation in the Parent-Child Relationship

In the context of child development, this article proposes that “asynchrony,” or brief separation from an attachment figure, is necessary for optimal, emotional growth toward attachment security. Emotional growth is seen as occurring through asynchrony and the repair process that follows. The authors propose to explore the notion of asynychrony in the context of emotional regulation and attachment theory and to relate it to the repair process. Furthermore, the authors plan to understand the possible effects of a lack of asynchrony as well as a loss of the repair process in the context of development. A child's capacity to experience asynchrony changes with development. A caregiver needs to maintain a balance between providing a holding environment and allowing a child to experience asynchrony in a developmentally appropriate way. The authors will address the role of the caregiver in the context of asynchrony and the repair process.     

“Being tied to experience”: towards a subjective account of the phenomenology of the event

Continental Philosophy Review - In this text, Heidegger's notion of the event is understood as a rupture on an ontological level. From this follows the aporia of whether the event concerns the...     

“Being Masculine is not About who you Sleep with...:” Heterosexual Athletes Contesting Masculinity and the One-time Rule of Homosexuality

Using in-depth interviews and participant observations, I examine how two groups of heterosexual high school US football players alter differently the construction of heterosexuality and masculinity after joining collegiate cheerleading. First, I show that informants from both groups make masculinity accessible to gay men before next describing how they reconcile heterosexuality with limited forms of same-sex sex. Forty-percent of the heterosexual men I interview confirm engaging in same-sex sex, although they differently frame the requirements for it. I suggest these findings have various meaning for the relationship between sexuality and masculinity, as both groups somewhat strengthen and contest the borders of heterosexuality and masculinity. These findings beckon consideration as to how the relationship among sport, sexuality, and homophobia is changing.     

Engaging with the Hatred of the Other: Personal Reflections Discussion of “States of Exile and Marginalization”

Drawing upon experiences associated with racialized tensions and interactions related to living in neocolonial, post-apartheid South Africa, I engage with Gillian Straker’s complex paper on “States of Exile and Marginalization” (this issue) as elaborated in response to Moffatt’s film Night Cries. In particular, I question what it means to receive the hatred of the other in contexts in which previous relations of power become challenged and inverted and grapple with how it may be possible to sustain a relational ethics in such instances. Straker’s reading of the tension between the real and the symbolic in Night Cries and what this signals for modes of expression, multiplicity of meaning, and potentialities in relating is also highlighted.     

Adjustment to and satisfaction with retirement: two of a kind?

Multiactor panel data on 778 Dutch employees were used to examine adjustment to and satisfaction with retirement. Regression analyses revealed that adjustment and satisfaction are related, but not identical. Adjustment problems arise from preretirement anxiety about the social consequences of retirement and from a lack of control over the decision. Retirement satisfaction is primarily related to the individual's access to key resources: finances, health, and the marital relationship. The study shows that the retirement transition is multidimensional. The transition involves two developmental challenges: adjustment to the loss of the work role and the social ties of work, and the development of a satisfactory postretirement lifestyle. Making a distinction between these two aspects of the retirement experience is important for a better understanding of the psychological process following retirement.     

“Being one with god is something that can be done without rules”: Commentary on Allan Kellehear's “Near-death experiences and the pursuit of the ideal society”

Allan Kellehear's article is a pioneering venture exploring features of the transcendent society and comparing it with J.C. Davis's typology of ideal societies. Kellehear assumed that in the life after life there is a sociocultural ordering that can be discussed via structural functional theory and concepts; and he also assumed internal and external validity, despite evidence to the contrary in his article. I think both of these assumptions are incorrect. What we need are alternative sociocultural frameworks and alternative research strategies, possibly from the new science.     

Introducing the Concepts of “Positions,” “Space,” and “Worlds”: Seeing Human Being and Becoming—and Religion—in New Ways

Theories of psychological development, however diverse, often express common underlying ontological-epistemological commitments shaped by the legacies of Descartes, Newton, and Kant. Three related psychoanalytic concepts—“positions,” “space,” and “worlds”—individually and collectively sketch the contours of a different way of construing human being and becoming—a way that departs from these legacies. Implications for the study of religion of this “different way” are examined.     

Correlation of the Response Potentials of the Skin with “Exciting” and Non-“Exciting” Stimuli

The relationship between psychological test performance and adult judgments of children's intelligence was explored in Guatemala and the U. S. A. In Guatemala, 15 male and 15 female children, age eight, were studied in each of two rural villages. In one village, 48 adult community members ranked the children on intelligence; in the other, 29 adults did the rankings. Male and female children were ranked separately. In the U. S., nine male children in a small New Jersey town were ranked by 25 adults. In a second U. S. community. a small California town, eight male children were ranked by 14 adults. In general, adult judgments were found to be congruent with children's test performance. In Guatemala, a simple family socioeconomic index was also related to both adult judgment and children's test performance. The implications of the results and the utility of these types of judgment techniques in cross-cultural research are discussed.     

“Working with Couples: Satir and the Tao,”

SUMMARY

One of Virginia Satir's greatest gifts to the world was the use of herself as an instrument of healing. By daring to use all of her-self-body, mind and spirit-the connections Virginia made with others were warm and real. Besides being authentically caring, Satir worked out of a pluralistic and comprehensive theoretical base to individualize each intervention. By co-creating strong, trusting relationships she inspirited others with her own life-force energy, and enabled them to become more fully human. Able to put her own ego needs aside, Virginia modeled how to join common sense with a sense of high purpose.